India has reiterated its stand on South China Sea dispute. Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Naypyidaw yesterday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the navigation should be done according to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and hoped that the dispute would be peacefully resolved in accordance with the guidelines of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
The situation in Gaza was also discussed widely at the meeting. Mrs. Swaraj said that India is in favour of resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict through dialogue.
India also called for peace and stability in Asia urging the nations to thwart terrorist activities in their respective lands. Mrs. Swaraj said that the region was facing lots of problems among which terrorism was the biggest issue and it has to be dealt with collectively.
Meanwhile, New Zealand yesterday sought to promote business and people-to-people ties with India by using the platform of the Cricket World Cup to be hosted by it along with Australia next year. In a meeting with Mrs Swaraj on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum talks, her New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully conveyed to her that his country wanted to seize the opportunity of enhancing ties with India by using linkages of cricket.